The Duke University Graduate Program in Immunology proposes a continuation of its Basic Immunology Training Program. The main goal of the Training Program is to select talented predoctoral candidates and to prepare them, through formal coursework, seminars, and independent research, for outstanding and productive research careers in basic immunology. The training faculty consists of 22 immunologists who hold primary or secondary appointments in the Department of Immunology. This faculty provides trainees with opportunities for rigorous training in a range of areas of contemporary immunologic research, for example: mechanisms of lymphocyte development and function, including lymphoid lineage commitment, V(D)J recombination, lymphocyte signaling, effector cell development, homeostasis, and tolerance;mechanisms of innate immunity and inflammation, including macrophage, dendritic cell, mast cell and complement function;mechanisms of host defense against bacterial and viral pathogens;the development of autoimmune and immunodeficiency diseases;and anti-tumor immunity. Funds are sought to support the training of four students per year. A selections committee will choose for support the most outstanding predoctoral trainees from among students accepted into the Graduate Program in Immunology. These students will receive support during their first and second years, until their admission to doctoral candidacy and the initiation of dissertation research. A carefully crafted core curriculum will provide trainees with superb grounding in basic immunology, cell biology, molecular biology and genetics. The Basic Immunology Training Program will teach the next generation of U.S. researchers the critical skills they will need to perform outstanding basic immunologic research. Future discoveries by these researchers will be absolutely essential for our continued progress in the fights against infectious diseases, cancer, and autoimmune and immunodeficiency diseases.